Special entries on the process menu are special operating system commands that have been defined to LANSA using this facility. For IBM i, these may be CL (control language) commands. For Windows, these may be simple DOS commands or program execution commands.
For Windows, the special entry will be submitted to a CMD.EXE window for execution. You are responsible to ensure that a proper path and parameters have been specified to enable the command to execute. For example, the notepad editor could be opened by using the NOTEPAD.EXE command. A directory of the C drive could be written to a text file using a "DIR C:\ > C:\textfile.txt" command.
For IBM i, CL command that can be executed via IBM supplied programs QCMDEXC or QCAEXEC can be included onto a processes main menu. The command can be prompted at the time it is being used to allow you to specify or change the associated parameters. CL commands that allow users to display or control their own jobs are most commonly included onto the processes main menu. Some of these include:
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For more information about the CL commands available on the IBM i and the programs QCMDEXC and QCAEXEC that are used to execute them, refer to the appropriate IBM supplied manual.
Platform Considerations
The use of special entries may not be portable between operating systems. For example, IBM i CL commands cannot be executed on a Windows platform. Use caution with special entries if you are building applications for more than one platform.
Also See
Special Entries in the Technical Reference Guide
Special Entries Tab in the Visual LANSA User Guide.